1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning a nozzle in an ink jet system printer. The present invention relates, more particularly, to a cleaning device which blows cleaning solvent against the nozzle of an ink jet system printer, thereby removeing ink liquid and the dust attached to the nozzle portion of the ink jet system printer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An ink jet system printer generally includes a nozzle unit for emitting ink droplets toward a record receiving paper. The nozzle unit includes at least one orifice through which the ink droplets are emitted. When the orifice is blocked by the dust or the solidified ink liquid, an accurate printing is not ensured. In an ink jet system printer of the ink-on-demand type, the distance between the recording paper and the nozzle surface is very short, for example, about 1 mm. Therefore, there is a great possibility that the ink mist scattered from the recording paper and the paper dust generated from the recording paper attach to the nozzle surface around the orifice. The dust attached to the nozzle surface around the orifice precludes an accurate printing operation.
A nozzle cleaning device has been proposed to clean the nozzle surface at a desired time. The nozzle cleaning device includes an emitting system for blowing the cleaning solvent against the nozzle surface. In the conventional cleaning device, the amount of the cleaning solvent ejected from the nozzle cleaning device is not properly controlled. Therefore, the cleaning is not ensured in the conventional system. Furthermore, in the conventional nozzle cleaning device, the position to which the cleaning solvent is ejected is manually controlled. Therefore, there is a possibility that the cleaning solvent is directly introduced into the inside of the nozzle unit through the orifice. The air may be introduced into the inside of the nozzle unit when the cleaning solvent is introduced into the inside of the nozzle unit. The air introduced into the inside of the nozzle unit precludes a stable operation of the ink jet system printer.